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Thought I’d share given the extensive conversations we had about this earlier. Mid-season firing of Steve Alford of UCLA after finishing 7-6 this OOC.
Absolutely. He had a 124-63 (.663) record at UCLA with 4 NCAA tournament appearance the past 5 years. Should even put him towards the top of the list for our new head coach
No, not a mid-season firing. There is no good that can come of this! It sends a bad message to the players! It will destroy the program ...
I would welcome him as Spider coach, and he is available to start work immediately
Updating my coaches wish-list now that non-conference play is over
1. Nate Oats - Buffalo
2. Earl Grant - Charleston
3. Steve Alford - UCLA
4. Wes Miller - UNC-Greensboro
5. Bob Richey - Furman
6. Steve Donahue - Penn
7. Nathan Davis - Bucknell
8. Nancy Lieberman
9. Rick Stansbury - WKU
10. Jason Williford - Associate Head coach at UVA
11. Mike Jones - Radford
1. Nate Oats - Buffalo
2. Earl Grant - Charleston
3. Steve Alford - UCLA
4. Wes Miller - UNC-Greensboro
5. Bob Richey - Furman
6. Steve Donahue - Penn
7. Nathan Davis - Bucknell
8. Nancy Lieberman
9. Rick Stansbury - WKU
10. Jason Williford - Associate Head coach at UVA
11. Mike Jones - Radford
There are obvious differences in our program vs UCLA. The differences that matter the most are expectations & accountability. UCLA deals with their perceived expectations & accountability, and we let ours linger into near infinity with our mantra "next year will be.....".
Alford to UR - yes!
17, Solid list and research along the way. I am going to add my thoughts.
1. Nate Oats - Buffalo (Think we are now a lateral move and will leap frog us - low low probability)
2. Earl Grant - Charleston (see above, a little more realistic than Oats)
3. Steve Alford - UCLA (not seeing a great fit. He has recruited tremendously, and yes has reached the NCAA, but each team has under acheived relative to the recruits/talent. Always been a P6 guy)
4. Wes Miller - UNC-Greensboro (My numero uno. Worry that he has built too good of a situation with roster, positioning to jump P6, etc, to risk it with the Hardt/PQ/Crutcher stench)
5. Bob Richey - Furman ( a few of you posted this guy as a candidate. Love what I have read about him. I would have him high on the list)
6. Steve Donahue - Penn (unsure about this one)
7. Nathan Davis - Bucknell (Like him a lot, just wins and wins and wins and wins no matter the level of competition. Abuses the conference, which shows he can coach vs those in same resource/recruiting boat. Actually he may be my co-number one with Miller, and Richey)
8. Nancy Lieberman (I like going outside the box, and she certainly would be very intriguing)
9. Rick Stansbury - WKU (thinking he is not a fit)
10. Jason Williford - Associate Head coach at UVA (hate the candidates with 0 head coaching experience. For every big hit you see with a p6 assistant having success stepping over to the HC position, I bet there are 10 failures. Ron Sanchez currently 3-8 at UNCC - though only first year)
11. Mike Jones - Radford (joked around about Radford a lot, but damn he is doing one hell of a job. Never, Ever would have thought they would be in our stratosphere, and they have b-slapped us. Kudos, and yes he should be a legit candidate.)
My biggest concern in this process is that we have fallen so far that it will be hard for the Bob Richey's, Earl Grant's, etc to see a reason to jump to us, when they can win big where they are, and wait out the right situation at a bigger conference. Feel the A10's current state hurts too.
1. Nate Oats - Buffalo (Think we are now a lateral move and will leap frog us - low low probability)
2. Earl Grant - Charleston (see above, a little more realistic than Oats)
3. Steve Alford - UCLA (not seeing a great fit. He has recruited tremendously, and yes has reached the NCAA, but each team has under acheived relative to the recruits/talent. Always been a P6 guy)
4. Wes Miller - UNC-Greensboro (My numero uno. Worry that he has built too good of a situation with roster, positioning to jump P6, etc, to risk it with the Hardt/PQ/Crutcher stench)
5. Bob Richey - Furman ( a few of you posted this guy as a candidate. Love what I have read about him. I would have him high on the list)
6. Steve Donahue - Penn (unsure about this one)
7. Nathan Davis - Bucknell (Like him a lot, just wins and wins and wins and wins no matter the level of competition. Abuses the conference, which shows he can coach vs those in same resource/recruiting boat. Actually he may be my co-number one with Miller, and Richey
)8. Nancy Lieberman (I like going outside the box, and she certainly would be very intriguing)
9. Rick Stansbury - WKU (thinking he is not a fit)
10. Jason Williford - Associate Head coach at UVA (hate the candidates with 0 head coaching experience. For every big hit you see with a p6 assistant having success stepping over to the HC position, I bet there are 10 failures. Ron Sanchez currently 3-8 at UNCC - though only first year)
11. Mike Jones - Radford (joked around about Radford a lot, but damn he is doing one hell of a job. Never, Ever would have thought they would be in our stratosphere, and they have b-slapped us. Kudos, and yes he should be a legit candidate.)
My biggest concern in this process is that we have fallen so far that it will be hard for the Bob Richey's, Earl Grant's, etc to see a reason to jump to us, when they can win big where they are, and wait out the right situation at a bigger conference. Feel the A10's current state hurts too.
Steve Alford add him to the list! Bit of a surprise UCLA would fire him on New Years Eve right before a major holiday and still within the holiday season. Sorry I'm mixing threads now.
Totally tongue in cheek, but...I would welcome him as Spider coach, and he is available to start work immediately
Has Uwe Blab ever considered coaching?
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1984-03-17-indiana.html
LOL. It had become a TOXIC situation there. Yes, would certainly been more humane to let him twist in the wind on new years day.
he has family and home back in the mid-west and probably where he is headed, with his pockets full of cash and future cash, no tears needed. he was a starting senior point guard on the team that stopped our ncaa run in charlotte after two victories. his recruiting must have dropped off once all the "shoe company" brothers have moved on to greener pastures with their dad leading the way. don't think alford will be desperate for a job anytime soon and he can be very selective if he decides to coach again.
17, Solid list and research along the way. I am going to add my thoughts.
1. Nate Oats - Buffalo (Think we are now a lateral move and will leap frog us - low low probability)
2. Earl Grant - Charleston (see above, a little more realistic than Oats)
3. Steve Alford - UCLA (not seeing a great fit. He has recruited tremendously, and yes has reached the NCAA, but each team has under acheived relative to the recruits/talent. Always been a P6 guy)
4. Wes Miller - UNC-Greensboro (My numero uno. Worry that he has built too good of a situation with roster, positioning to jump P6, etc, to risk it with the Hardt/PQ/Crutcher stench)
5. Bob Richey - Furman ( a few of you posted this guy as a candidate. Love what I have read about him. I would have him high on the list)
6. Steve Donahue - Penn (unsure about this one)
7. Nathan Davis - Bucknell (Like him a lot, just wins and wins and wins and wins no matter the level of competition. Abuses the conference, which shows he can coach vs those in same resource/recruiting boat. Actually he may be my co-number one with Miller, and Richey
8. Nancy Lieberman (I like going outside the box, and she certainly would be very intriguing)
9. Rick Stansbury - WKU (thinking he is not a fit)
10. Jason Williford - Associate Head coach at UVA (hate the candidates with 0 head coaching experience. For every big hit you see with a p6 assistant having success stepping over to the HC position, I bet there are 10 failures. Ron Sanchez currently 3-8 at UNCC - though only first year)
11. Mike Jones - Radford (joked around about Radford a lot, but damn he is doing one hell of a job. Never, Ever would have thought they would be in our stratosphere, and they have b-slapped us. Kudos, and yes he should be a legit candidate.)
My biggest concern in this process is that we have fallen so far that it will be hard for the Bob Richey's, Earl Grant's, etc to see a reason to jump to us, when they can win big where they are, and wait out the right situation at a bigger conference. Feel the A10's current state hurts too.
A lot of my list is optimistic but I would love for Hardt to be thinking big. It’s worth a shot. At the end of the day, even getting a coach like Mike Jones or Nathan Davis would be a step up from Mooney. I agree with you that I’d rather have someone with previous head coaching experience but Williford might be the exception given UVA’s success and his connections to RVA. Honestly, I’ll take anyone other than Mooney at this point.
Especially when you consider that he most likely has suffered personal tragedy at some point during his lifetime.
Also: So close to Valentine's Day! Just heartless.
While I think there are very few parallels between UR and the UCLA scenario, the commentary about losing the fan base is significant. I’m not sure if the board is reflective of the fan base but there’s a case to be made that CM has lost an important contingent of it.
^I wish I could like this a zillion times!
Seriously, folks we could offer Alford the same money we were paying CM, a lot less pressure than UCLA, and an opportunity for him to rebuild our program and his standing in the college coaching hierarchy. We should be on the phone TODAY with his agent. He would have to seriously consider it. We could have him on board before the meaty part of the A-10 season.
In the meantime, a certain coach in Austin, TX is contemplating his second bite at the UCLA apple...
#NoMoreMooneyTruthing
At the very least, we should try to get someone onto the short list at UCLA. An "excellent," young-ish A10 coach with a "track record of tremendous success" who has just recruited/redshirted the #bestclassever in his school's history.
Perhaps we can use the color commentators from the last two games to try to sell it.
Perhaps we can use the color commentators from the last two games to try to sell it.
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I'll go on record right now saying Alford would be an atrocious choice for Richmond. Especially for those of you who crave a coach that speaks out loud about the coach being accountable for things that go wrong. Apparently, any time he was faced with a tough question, he would say, "I have an audience of one", referring to god.
Not sure why people are pitching a tent in their pants for a guy who has taken multiple top recruiting classes to perhaps the program's lowest point since John Wooden.
Not sure why people are pitching a tent in their pants for a guy who has taken multiple top recruiting classes to perhaps the program's lowest point since John Wooden.
If their lowest point is 4 ncaa tournament appearances in 5 years (3 of which were sweet 16 appearances), a 124-63 record, and a season with 31 wins, then sign me up.
Nobody thinks that Alford is the 2nd coming. But, he would be a lot better than what we have now. That is why.
Just like Nate Oats, Alford is not coming to Richmond. But I would trade for him in a heartbeat.
Right. I'm not in love with Alford or anything but he's a ton better than what we have. He had a track record of great success everywhere he's gone. Maybe not quite as much at UCLA, but he made the tournament 80 percent of the time.
Of course you could name almost any coach who's been to the tournament this decade and I would be interested.
Of course you could name almost any coach who's been to the tournament this decade and I would be interested.
I am kind of ambivalent about Alford, but he is not coming here any way. A couple years ago (when they had Lonzo) I thought they had possibly the most talent in the country. He would not be able to recruit like that here.
On another note, I am prepared for this conversation for the next three years. TRIUMVIRATE RULES.
Happy New Year #SuckerNation
On another note, I am prepared for this conversation for the next three years. TRIUMVIRATE RULES.
Happy New Year #SuckerNation
That's more than we usually get from Mooney when he is asked a tough question.
#NoMoreMooneyTruthing
Another coach I like that hasn't been mentioned is Pat Kelsey. Very good coach, bulldog recruiter and likely to make a move up soon. He jilted Umass a couple years ago at last minute. Thought that was a coup that Umass hired him but surprised too as didn't see as great fit. Right decision just looked bad for him. Gregg Marshall did same thing years ago and worked out well for him.
Chris Fleming should get lot of love...if he's interested. Spider23 pushed him originally. Too outside the box for Hardt his head might explode.
Chris Fleming should get lot of love...if he's interested. Spider23 pushed him originally. Too outside the box for Hardt his head might explode.
Hmm, forgot about Kelsey. Chris Mack disciple I believe. I do remember when Umass hired him and was thinking he would be very good there.
Interesting observation PA, I ask you this, how many years was Donahue at Cornell before he had a winning season? Not really the argument to use when hyping Donahue over Miller.
Donahue does have a decent resume, flamed out at BC, but that is a tough job in the ACC, swimming with the big sharks without much protection. I was actually hoping Moon got the BC job, because I thought we could upgrade, but instead handed him millions and security which he got very comfortable with.
More importantly, I read that Alford lost the locker room and the players just didn’t want to play for him anymore.
CollegeBasketballTalk: Steve Alford is out as UCLA's head coach
https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2018/12/31/steve-alford-is-out-as-uclas-head-coach/
The quote of someone close to the program stated that “they hate him” struck me. I think that’s the reason he was fired, not the fan base.
Also, I’m not sure I want Richmond hiring a coach that loses the locker room and has failed to translate recruiting talent to success on the court.
Good point, but he is now turning around his second school, so there is more of a track record. As far as BC, those aren’t Donahue’s type of players. He is used to recruiting high achieving smart players who commit to team ball instead of the individual game. I think Richmond would be an easier transition for him given our academic requirements.
was score watching today and saw that bama was leading ky late so tuned in for the last few minutes. close game, lots of turnovers, timeouts, etc as it wound down. observed that the bama players were not talking to the head coach on their way back to the floor, they were chatting with john pelphrey each and every time and also in the bench huddle before going back out. not unusual for an assistant to be involved but looked more like he was the head guy as opposed to an assistant and did not seem to bother avery johnson at all. not bringing this up for us to look at him, an sec type of guy and probably making more money than we would pay him but just thought it was neat for an assistant to be the go to guy on the staff as opposed to the head coach.
Who is that guy that coached Hickory Indiana to the Indiana state championship? Anyway, I would take his drunk assistant coach and watch the paint dry on the picket fence at this point. “Shooter”
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